Vancouver woman's sexy Kate Upton pose earns her internet fame

Mark Leiren-Young, Special to the Sun03.08.2013

Ania Korkh went from 97 Twitter followers to more than 6,400 in just two days, found an L.A. agent and was overwhelmed by offers for modelling and acting gigs after posting a photo of herself mimicking Kate Upton's pose on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.*
/ Composite image

Ania Korkh went from 97 Twitter followers to more than 6,400 in just two days, found an L.A. agent and was overwhelmed by offers for modelling and acting gigs after posting a photo of herself mimicking Kate Upton's pose on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.*
/ Twitter

This image released by Starpix shows cover model Kate Upton at the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue launch party at Crimson on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 in New York.Andrew Toth
/ AP Photo/Starpix

Ania Korkh rocketed to global internet fame after she tweeted a picture of herself posing like Kate Upton on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.Facebook
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Vancouver resident Ania Korkh is reeling from having her life turn into a media circus after she tweeted a photo of herself dressed like Kate Upton on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.TAV RAYNE
/ Special to the Sun

Ania Korkh rocketed to global internet fame after she tweeted a picture of herself posing like Kate Upton on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.Facebook
/ *

The real Kate Upton attends as Sports Illustrated celebrates SI Swimsuit 2013 with a star-studded red carpet kickoff event at Crimson on February 12, 2013 in New York City.Michael Loccisano
/ Getty Images

Ania Korkh rocketed to global internet fame after she tweeted a picture of herself posing like Kate Upton on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.Facebook
/ *

Ania Korkh rocketed to global internet fame after she tweeted a picture of herself posing like Kate Upton on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.Facebook
/ *

Ania Korkh rocketed to global internet fame after she tweeted a picture of herself posing like Kate Upton on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.Facebook
/ *

Ania Korkh rocketed to global internet fame after she tweeted a picture of herself posing like Kate Upton on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.Facebook
/ *

Related

Kate Upton, one of the world’s top supermodels has a double in Vancouver -- and thanks to the joke bio on her Twitter page the global media spread the word that she was a Russian mail order bride.

Sitting in a Vancouver agent’s office just before a Skype interview with ESPN, Ania Korkh told the Sun she’s reeling from having her life turn into a media circus thanks to a couple of jokes and a dare. In a span of a few days the 22-year-old fourth year arts major at Capilano University has been fielding interview requests from the international media and having her picture turn up in papers in England, Russia, Australia, Hong Kong and Israel. Next week she’s slated to talk to CNN news stud Anderson Cooper.

Korkh says her friends kept telling her she looked a lot like supermodel Kate Upton. So when Korkh saw the picture of Upton on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and realized she had the exact same winter jacket, she mimicked the pose and Tweeted it to her 78 friends who were following her on Twitter. The friend who took the photo, 19-year-old Ariana Sairafi, dared her to tweet it to Upton.

A few hours later Korkh’s inbox was flooded with new requests to follow her. Korkh was shocked to discover the reason -- Upton had replied and retweeted the photo to her nearly 800,000 followers along with the word “amazing.”

The internet agreed.

But it was her joke Twitter bio that made the story even crazier. Three years ago -- at the same time as she was starting her Twitter account -- the Moscow-born Korkh had been asked to pose for a fake passport photo to illustrate a business magazine story on Russian Mail Order Brides. Her only previous modelling experience. The in-joke for friends -- she described herself on her Twitter bio as a “mail order bride in training.”

So when curious tweeters checked out her page she wasn’t just flooded with interview requests, but marriage proposals. The web went wild with stories about the “mail order bride” and Korkh called longtime friend, Nigel Mikoski a partner in Vancouver talent agency Integral Artists and asked him for help. “She’s not actually a client,” Mikoski told the Sun. “She’s my old roommate’s little sister.”

Since then Mikoski has been fielding both interview requests and modelling offers and neither he nor Korkh can stop laughing when they talk about it, both describing the life-changing situation as “absurd.”

Korkh says she never had any intention of modelling -- right now the former national level rhythmic gymnast pays the bills teaching rhythmic gymnastics to kids -- but she’s open to giving it a try. Then she laughs again, “It was all a joke meant for 78 friends not 78 million people. God bless social media.”

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Vancouver woman's sexy Kate Upton pose earns her internet fame

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